Something is going on with South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.

Sure, various maladies have affected him this season. A bone spur in his foot. A stomach virus. A strained rib cage muscle is the latest. But that doesn't seem like the full story.

For whatever reason or reasons, Clowney has barely been a factor this season for the No. 12 Gamecocks (4-1), which is incomprehensible given the conversation that surrounded him this past summer. Just six weeks ago, it seemed a given Clowney would be the No. 1 pick in next spring's NFL draft and at least on the fringe of the Heisman Trophy conversation.

Instead, Clowney has been a mystery man: Good, at times, but ineffective at others and overly frustrated that teams have game planned around him, running a large percentage of plays to the opposite side of the field. Clowney was so aggravated, in fact, that he suggested South Carolina's coaches were misusing him after a loss to Georgia in September.

Clowney sat out Saturday's 35-28 victory against Kentucky, telling coach Steve Spurrier during pregame warm-ups that he wouldn't be able to play. Spurrier acknowledged Clowney didn't practice Thursday but told reporters he was under the assumption Clowney would play until right before kickoff. Spurrier's follow-up comment, however, intimated there might be other issues involved.

"If he wants to play, we'll welcome him to come play for the team if he wants to," Spurrier said. "If he doesn't want to play, he doesn't have to."

On a teleconference Sunday, Spurrier said it was "not a big story" and that he was just surprised by the timing of Clowney taking himself out of the lineup. But when asked if he thought Clowney was totally committed to and focused on the team, as opposed to perhaps his professional future, Spurrier went vague again.

"You'll have to ask him about that," Spurrier said. "I can't speak for Jadeveon."

Though Clowney is still a massive talent, this season has been a bust so far. But he's not alone among players who have not performed to the level of attention they received in August.

Three players who were overhyped coming into the season and three who were underhyped, based on the first six weeks:

Who did we overhype?

Alabama WR Amari Cooper: As a freshman last year, Cooper led the Crimson Tide with 1,000 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns and looked very much like a superstar in the making. But similar to Clemson's Sammy Watkins, who slumped as a sophomore after a dazzling freshman year at receiver, Cooper hasn't found his stride this season. There seem to be a number of factors playing into Cooper's regression. Not only is he attracting more attention from defenses, but he's also been bothered recently by a sore toe that kept him out of one game and has limited him in practice. Regardless, he's all but out of the All-America conversation prior to the season's midway point sitting at just nine catches and 100 yards without a touchdown.

Michigan QB Devin Gardner: There was a ton of talk in the preseason about how Michigan's offense would be significantly better with Gardner running the show full-time. That may ultimately prove to be correct, but the Wolverines are very fortunate to be 5-0 as Gardner has been very turnover-prone early in the season. Though Gardner played error-free against Minnesota this past weekend, he's thrown eight interceptions and also lost fumbles at key times against Akron and UConn, games Michigan had to come back and win. Gardner is the engine for Michigan's offense and has some significant skills, but that's just too many turnovers to be considered among the elite players in college football.

Notre Dame DE Stephon Tuitt: He was the breakthrough star of the Fighting Irish's defense last season with 12 sacks, 47 tackles and three forced fumbles as a sophomore, putting him in the conversation to be a first team All-American and first-round NFL draft pick in 2013. But the impact of Tuitt's offseason surgery to correct a sports hernia was severely underrated heading into the season. Tuitt gained weight and got out of shape in the offseason because he was limited in exercise and has seemingly been behind ever since. "The surgery that he had has affected his back; it's affected his hip flexors," Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. "Some people dismiss it and say, 'Well, you know, you just had minor surgery.' Well, it's affected a lot of things."

Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty has done little wrong when the ball has been in his hands this season for the 4-0 Bears.(Photo: Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports)

Who did we underhype?

Baylor QB Bryce Petty: Even though he barely played his first two years on campus, quarterback was way down the list of question marks about Baylor coming into the season. This is Art Briles, after all, and quarterbacks are kind of his thing. Still, Petty's efficiency running this offense is insane, especially for a guy we didn't know much about six weeks ago. Though Baylor's competition has been soft, Petty's numbers are impressive: 67-for-92 for 1,348 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has just one interception and is averaging 14.7 yards an attempt. As Baylor rises in the polls, the spotlight on Petty will only get brighter. So far, not enough people have taken notice.

Oregon State QB Sean Mannion: For a variety of reasons, it's hard to get noticed at Oregon State. If Mannion were putting up these numbers at a more glamorous program, he would probably be the runaway Heisman leader at the moment. Instead, the Beavers will need to keep winning for the rest of the country to catch on to his incredible statistical run of 2,018 passing yards and 21 touchdowns with just two interceptions. That's 403.6 yards and 4.2 touchdowns per game. Mannion, a junior, needs just 428 yards to surpass what he did in nine games last season (he missed four with injuries) and already has thrown for six more touchdowns.

Wisconsin WR Jared Abbrederis: Though he was not a secret by any means, Abbrederis was overlooked in nearly every preseason discussion about the nation's best wideouts. But the former walk-on, who played quarterback, wrestled and ran track in high school, is now likely on his way to an NFL career and possible All-America honors if he keeps up his current level of production. Abbrederis is averaging 114.4 yards per game, which ranks 12th in the country and is even more impressive when considering he's accounted for more than half of the team's total receiving yards.